"Is there any mean to cut the spell you created around me?"

~•~•~•~•~

'Good morning, Dr. Sen.', Gauri entered the cabin of child psychologist Nandini Sen.

'Oh, morning morning Ms. Trivedi!', Dr. Sen smiled brightly, 'Oh, you brought little Ms. Rikara too.. Perfect! Please have your seats.'

It was a typical Saturday morning for others, but a real busy day for Gauri. After getting her details of the new office, she had almost broken the signals to reach Dr. Sen's chamber in time. Getting leaned over the backrest of the revolving chair, she exhaled a huge amount of air, groaning in exhaustion. The scorching humid summer was a sticky bitch, making her smell like filth due to sweat.

'You've always been to the hills, right?', Dr. Sen asked.

'H.. How do you know?', Gauri jerked up straight on her backbone.

'Relax Ms. Trivedi, just took a wild guess', Dr. Sen winked.

'Haha', Gauri laughed nervously, she hated people knowing about her disastrous marriage.

'Ms. Rikara, do you hate summer too?', Dr. Sen asked Rikara, as she eyed her swinging her legs impatiently and twirling the calendar paperweight on the table.. Clear signs of boredom.

'Me? Yes. Summer is sweaty and see', she extended her hands, 'I got some nasty itchy red rashes too', she pouted.

'By the way, is there any reason you called us here?', Gauri got into business.

'Uh yes! There is a big reason. Like I suspected by Rikara's-'

'Its Ms. Rikara', Rikara cut in.

'Rikara! I told you not to speak up when someone else is speaking, its a bad manner', Gauri rebuked her lightly.

'Sorry mumma.', Rikara concentrated on the calendar paperweight again.

'Its okay Ms. Trivedi, with her test results, this kind of behaviour is normal.', Dr. Sen intertwined her fingers.

'Test results? You mean the IQ test??'

'Yes. Ms. Trivedi, Rikara is a gifted child, her IQ is 175. She's a genius. But, there are some certain problems like her socialization complex, strong emotional impulses, reading difficulties, etc. These problems are normal for gifted child and they need different methods of teaching. So, I will suggest you to contact her school and crèche about it.'

Gauri cut in, 'She's going to new primary school anyway and my office has changed, so I'm looking for a new crèche.'

'Oh, I've prepared her reports for submission and please, many parents of gifted children tend to push them towards excelling in academics, but I would suggest that don't pressurize her, let her choose the career she's interested in, and I assure you, she will shine definitely. And, she may find subjects like history boring, so you have to handle such subjects carefully. And for her brain exercise, you can put her in classes of encoding-decoding, and chess, it will be helpful. And continue with her meditation, that may subdue her hyperactivity.

'Thank you so much Dr. Sen, thank you! May I come again if I face any problem?'

'Of course you can and later, Rikara may need some counselling for anger management and depression. So, Ms. Rikara, all the best!', Dr. Sen extended her hand for a shake.

'Thank you.', Rikara took her hand and shook firmly.

*****

'Thank god the new school is in sector I. I'll not have to worry about travelling a lot. You know right, what are you going for?', Gauri gave Rikara a little sipper of pomegranate juice.

'Yes. For an in- in- interview.', Rikara sipped the bittersweet juice.

'Good girl. Greet your interviewee first,'

'And then answer the asked questions correctly. I know', Rikara made a disinterested face.

Gauri drove past a white BMW parked near the gate of Netaji Subhash International Airport.

*****

'... Flight number 13BH4 Mumbai to Kolkata has arrived...', a chiming mechanical voice reverberated through the cold air of the lounge. Tewari stood at the gate holding the board, Mr. Oberoi written on it.

Omkara pushed his trolley through the swarms of people coming out. It took no time to locate Tiwari with the board.

'Morning Tiwari.'

'Very good morning, Omkara Sir, please', Tiwari took the trolley from his hand and started walking before him, and a torrent of words ran from his mouth, expressing the details of the policies he decided for the new company, the possible deadlines, his residence, and Omkara nodded occasionally, humming in acceptance.

'Please help yourself in sir', Tiwari opened the door of the backseat of a white BMW parked near the gate of the airport and the chauffeur along with him loaded the dickey of the car with his luggage.

As soon as he settled in the car, he pulled down the black tainted glass, a small Hyundai brushed past his car, making his heart skip a beat.

*****

Omkara got down from the car as it was parked in a small basement garage. Shivaay had a really good arrangement for his living. The house was a cozy two storey bungalow, with a big garden around. The bungalow was a part of the township planted by one of Shivaay's real estate associate, and the area was very secluded, but well built.

He stepped in the bungalow, it had a modern designed interior, black, white and grey being the ruler colours. One wall of every room was painted in a bright colour. And French style floor to ceiling sliding doors and windows made the bungalow filled with bright glow of sun rays. The floors were of pure mehgony, and the furniture too. The bungalow had plenty of space around, and tall eucalyptuses and deodars were planted being carefully careless about their alignment. It made the onlookers seem as if the building was surrounded by forest of eucalyptus and deodar.

'Sir, the best part is the terrace', Tiwari pushed open the door leading to the terrace. And Omkara stood there for sometime, smiling contently.

'Shivaay Sir told me that you had a nice terrace at your bungalow in Panchghani. So, I custom made this artificial white flower garden here with an infinity edge pool. Do you like it, Sir?', Tiwari asked from behind.

'I love it Tiwari. Thanks for your thoughtfulness.' Omkara smiled back at him.

'My pleasure Sir, but you should take rest now.'

'Yeah', Omkara got down, and entered the black themed master bedroom. Throwing his t shirt away, he laid on the bed. Its so hot in Kolkata.. He soon drifted in a medicinal slumber.

But alas! He woke up from his rest perplexed. Taking a bath, he came out in the drawing room. It was still noon. A maid gave him a cup of refreshing Jasmine Darjeeling tea.

'Listen!', the maid turned at him swaying her hips seductively, 'Where is Ajit?'

'Driver Ajit? He is outside, do I need to call him?', the maid batted her eyelashes.

'Yes, if you please', Omkara faced away, feeling irritated.

The maid went out, stepping on the floor voluptuously. After moments, Ajit was inside.

'Yes sir!'

'Will it take too long to get to Kumartuli?'

'A bit sir, if there is traffic.'

'No traffic is as bad as Mumbai. Take me there.'

'Yes sir! I'm taking the car out.'

*****

'Mumma! Will we not go to the doll makers blocks today?', Rikara asked Gauri, as soon as they finished their lunch in a restaurant.

'Do you still have the energy left, after so much travelling?', Gauri banged her palms on the steering.

'Its okay, if you are tired, let's skip', Rikara tied her seatbelt.

'I'm not tired miss energy pack, anything for you! Let's go!!', She revved the engine.

*****

'Grandpa Pal, Grandpa Pal!!', Rikara ran through the dimly lit alleyways, dodging the bamboo frames and stacks of hay, on the ground. And the tall, unfinished idols of Gods and Goddesses watched the enthusiastic kid with calm admiration, lining at the sides of the alleys.

Gauri paused a bit to catch her breath as soon as Rikara threw her arms around the neck of an old man with thick glasses from behind. The old man gave of a serene grin, his fine lines deepening in happiness.

'Welcome, welcome, little sculptor, welcome!', The old man greeted them with a warm smile.

'Did I came here before accident? But, this place and the tall idols are both enchanting and intimidating', Omkara murmured, standing in front of an unfinished idol of Goddess Durga, his head reached the back of the lion only, his hands shoved in his pockets. He raised his head high up to observe the face of the Goddess, his moth slightly ajar in amazement.

Hit and miss..
Rikara is a gifted child, arre bachcha kiska hai! 😎
How do you like the glimpses of Kolkata till now?? Do you think, any other city would have been appropriate if chosen? Do let me know.

I still haven't decided the final cast for Rikara, but my first preference is Ruhana Khanna, her appearances match with the possible appearance of Rikara. Tell me if you agree with me. Or else, you can choose a cast for Rikara too.

Happy reading!
With love,
Sarani.